The call for Republicans to discard their opposition to immigration amnesty will grow deafening in the wake of President Obama’s victory. Hispanics supported Obama by a margin of nearly 75 percent to 25 percent, and may have provided important margins in some swing states. If only Republicans relented on their Neanderthal views regarding the immigration rule of law, the message will run, they would release the inner Republican waiting to emerge in the Hispanic population.

If Republicans want to change their stance on immigration, they should do so on the merits, not out of a belief that only immigration policy stands between them and a Republican Hispanic majority. It is not immigration policy that creates the strong bond between Hispanics and the Democratic party, but the core Democratic principles of a more generous safety net, strong government intervention in the economy, and progressive taxation. Hispanics will prove to be even more decisive in the victory of Governor Jerry Brown’s Proposition 30, which raised upper-income taxes and the sales tax, than in the Obama election.

And California is the wave of the future. A March 2011 poll by Moore Information found that Republican economic policies were a stronger turn-off for Hispanic voters in California than Republican positions on illegal immigration. Twenty-nine percent of Hispanic voters were suspicious of the Republican party on class-warfare grounds — “it favors only the rich”; “Republicans are selfish and out for themselves”; “Republicans don’t represent the average person”– compared with 7 percent who objected to Republican immigration stances.

I spoke last year with John Echeveste, founder of the oldest Latino marketing firm in southern California, about Hispanic politics. “What Republicans mean by ‘family values’ and what Hispanics mean are two completely different things,” he said. “We are a very compassionate people, we care about other people and understand that government has a role to play in helping people.”

And a strong reason for that support for big government is that so many Hispanics use government programs. U.S.-born Hispanic households in California use welfare programs at twice the rate of native-born non-Hispanic households. And that is because nearly one-quarter of all Hispanics are poor in California, compared to a little over one-tenth of non-Hispanics. Nearly seven in ten poor children in the state are Hispanic, and one in three Hispanic children is poor, compared to less than one in six non-Hispanic children. One can see that disparity in classrooms across the state, which are chock full of social workers and teachers’ aides trying to boost Hispanic educational performance.

The idea of the “social issues” Hispanic voter is also a mirage. A majority of Hispanics now support gay marriage, a Pew Research Center poll from last month found. The Hispanic out-of-wedlock birth rate is 53 percent, about twice that of whites.

The demographic changes set into motion by official and de facto immigration policy favoring low-skilled over high-skilled immigrants mean that a Republican party that purports to stand for small government and free markets faces an uncertain future.

Too many Republicans intentionally never wanted to do anything about controlling the border because too many business constituencies wanted the cheap labor. Now that same cheap labor is voting for candidates who will implement regulations and laws that will overcome any labor cost savings to the extent of making commerce cost prohibitive in the 1st place. I’m an upperlow to lower middle income person myself and even I saw this scenario coming years ago, but GOP big whigs couldn’t figure it out. Go figure.

We had Trick or Trunk at church. Trick or treating candy distribution out of our cars which were decorated. All of the White Catholics came early and brought the candy. Not one Mexican family was there. Then when the event started, all the mexicans showed up with all of their kids and got all the candy. I learned a lot at that even. A lot of those mexicans could have brought something but they didn’t they showed up and just took. OK?

Proof that illegal hispanics now rule CA - while every imaginable tax increase passed a proposition that would have enabled auto insurance companies to offer discounted rates to policy holders who've carried coverage for a certain period of time failed to pass.

oh I have a better one.
We had a rememberence event for the death of a kid.
Everyone brought hotdogs etc but then this family must have seen an event, they pulled in , took the hotdogs for themselves and kids and then got into the car.
A person went over and tried to tell them that this was a closed event and they said they couldn;t understand and then left whilst the guy was stil talking

The people that lost us this election were the libertarian and third party voters, and I doubt that they were Hispanics.

If we had had a stronger approach, I think we would have attracted more Hispanics, who, like anybody else, appreciate somebody who is confident in their message. The GOP barely even had a message, since Romney’s advisors had decided that he should present himself as just a better dressed, more polite and more successful version of Obama.

But the people who lost it for us in Florida and Ohio were the (mostly middle-aged white male) libertarians who voted for one or another of their flaky candidates because they were too pure to vote GOP. They forgot that the candidate is only a part of it, and that what they would have gotten would have been an entire change at the top that might actually have brought in some people who sympathized with them. But if you want to look at a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot group, look at the third party voters and not the unconvinced and unwooed Hispanic voters.

I put blame on Bush for this pro-Dem demographic change that could put us out of power forever. I know he was dealing with the wars, but we needed the border closed. You failed, George. Thanks a lot.

On another note, maybe we just need our own “Hispanics”. Why don’t we move to attract as many Eastern Europeans to America as possible? They have kind of awful conditions back home in the current climate, love hard work, hate communists, and are usually committed Christians. They should be prime targets for us to counter the Latinos.

The demographic changes set into motion by official and de facto immigration policy favoring low-skilled over high-skilled immigrants...and ironically that policy is often supported specifically by Republicans - close relative who's been in farming all his life and is a good conservative in so many ways strongly supports having Mexican farmworkers - legal or not, he doesn't care and looks the other way - available to work in the fields - I suspect a lot of Republican farmers and contractors are about the same.....

(generally speaking... brought to you by 70+/95+ homogenous voting blocks)

The GOP has about as much of a chance of courting Hispanic votes as they do Black votes - they are a homogenous group bound together first and foremost by race, perhaps second only to government goodies. They cannot and will never be swayed by ideas. I don’t believe it is possible at this point. And that is all conservatives have to offer - ideas (not goodies).

Nonetheless, I will not abandon my conservative principles. I will only focus them, locally. Family first, then local elections. The nation took such a hard-left turn that the USA isn’t recognizable. And sitting out federal elections will have little to no consequence in my life. In a post-Constitutional America, Putin has as much power to sway the U.S. as the punks who live across the street from me.

On “Trick or Trunk” - exactly. I started today. One by one, I told all those i encountered who have mooched off me that I am done. They can solve their own problems, do their own work. Each small business I patronize, I will ask, what did you think of the election? Wrong answers and I will tell them they have lost my business.

Mexican immigrants still hold to the world view of Mexico, where the rich really DO conspire to keep hard working men down, and where the color of your skin CAN keep you from a good job. That history of class oppression is the greatest obstacle we face in convincing many Hispanics to vote for conservatives.

More progressive taxation will not bring in more revenue if people adapt. If a sizable portion of the electorate Goes Galt, there will be less revenue. It is time to stop the motor of the world to quote Ayn Rand, at least for the United States. We need to try and brace up Boehner (probably impossible) to not agree to a debt ceiling increase and no deal involving tax increases in any deal to stop the sequestration scheduled for the end of the year. The US will not recover from its present infection without a lot of tears and trouble. It is time to take it to the wall.

There are a lot of poor Mexicans/Hispanics because there are a lot of poor, poorly educated, large family illegals. Illegals tend to be poor and come to the USA for the freebies not available to them in their home Countries.

The Dems have and will always offer more freebies than the Repubs so the Mexicans/Hispanics will vote Dem.

It is pointless for the Repubs to try elto out-Dem the Dems.

As the Mex/Hispanic population increases (courtesy the Dems for most part), the Dem Party will be assured election wins.

Consider how California voted....overwhelmingly Dem, up and down the races and issues. California has an increasingly heavy Mex/Hispanic population of voters (legal or otherwise).

Just as the Blacks vote lockstep Dem, for the freebies, so too will the Mex/Hispanics.

Thus the demographics are changed (and expect Obama/Dems to give amnesty and easy entry of extended families of illegals, giving the Dems an additional est. 25 million votes), forever.

Thus one could reasonably conclude that 2012 was the end of the USA and the start of the USSA.

Other factors are the Dem’s control of “public” education and the MSMedia (now better called Pravda/Tass).

If Obama had been a Republican, the MSM would have had him defeated in a landslide. These days, the MSM are king-makers/public opinion shapers.

As was Pravda/Tass in the old USSR.

25
posted on 11/07/2012 4:36:00 PM PST
by OldArmy52
(The question is not whether Obama ever lies, but whether he ever tells the truth.)

Correct! If you legalize more dem voters, you get more dem voters. If you don’t legalize more dem voters, you won’t get the previously legalized dem voters. There is no winning choice here. The Repub party needs to be clear about this—>simply refuse to play. The long term cost in terms of strengthening the opposition party cannot be overcome even if a handful of short-term votes might be achieved (which is doubtful at best). You cannot win this game so refuse to play. This was clear to me in the 1980’s but the calculations seem to continue to evade some Repub strategists who are convinced that demographic changes demand the Repubs court the Hispanic vote. That CAN be done—the strategists are just not looking at the right solutions.

27
posted on 11/07/2012 4:37:54 PM PST
by iacovatx
(Conservatism is the political center--it is not "right" of center)

“We had Trick or Trunk at church. Trick or treating candy distribution out of our cars which were decorated. All of the White Catholics came early and brought the candy. Not one Mexican family was there. Then when the event started, all the mexicans showed up with all of their kids and got all the candy. I learned a lot at that even. A lot of those mexicans could have brought something but they didnt they showed up and just took. OK?”

Now you see why Halloween is not good for America. Fostering a taker mentality from an early age.

29
posted on 11/07/2012 4:39:56 PM PST
by ari-freedom
(Election Day should be after Thanksgiving, not right after Halloween)

“The GOP has about as much of a chance of courting Hispanic votes as they do Black votes - they are a homogenous group bound together first and foremost by race, perhaps second only to government goodies. They cannot and will never be swayed by ideas. I dont believe it is possible at this point. And that is all conservatives have to offer - ideas (not goodies).”

We should learn from Canada. Conservatives were able to get Sikhs, Chinese and even African immigrants to vote for them because they reached out to immigrant populations. The GOP is still influenced by Pat Buchanan and Nixon’s ‘us versus them’ mentality.

30
posted on 11/07/2012 4:45:04 PM PST
by ari-freedom
(Election Day should be after Thanksgiving, not right after Halloween)

I agree about asking everyone how they voted before giving them my money or business. Just looking at the percent of Hispanic Catholics (74%) who voted for Obama and now I know when all those Christmas drives in church start for their children that I will not participate. Their vote has a consequence. Just like 95% of black “Protestants” voted for Obama...don’t expect me to supplement your kids and grand kids Christmas toy haul.

34
posted on 11/07/2012 4:52:05 PM PST
by happyhomemaker
(Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Rom 12:12)

But the people who lost it for us in Florida and Ohio were the (mostly middle-aged white male) libertarians who voted for one or another of their flaky candidates because they were too pure to vote GOP. They forgot that the candidate is only a part of it, and that what they would have gotten would have been an entire change at the top that might actually have brought in some people who sympathized with them. But if you want to look at a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot group, look at the third party voters and not the unconvinced and unwooed Hispanic voters.

First off, let me just say that I am a knuckle-dragging extremist who's no libertarian, although I recognize that they have a place in the party. However, I think it was two factors, neither of which has to do with libertarians, that caused Romney's defeat:

(1) We held on to most of our GOP Congressional seats. The losers lost because they were too conservative for their districts. A UPI poll indicated that 10% of evangelicals said they wouldn't vote for a Mormon. That took him out in FL where he lost by tens of thousands of votes.

(2) Romney's editorial about opposing the auto bailout took him out in the Rust Belt states. That was why Bush supported the bailout - a lifetime in politics taught him elementary electoral math that Romney never had the chance to learn - one of the Rust Belt states (Ohio) provided his margin of victory in both 2000 and 2004.

36
posted on 11/07/2012 4:53:12 PM PST
by Zhang Fei
(Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)

Republicans need to focus on the next generation of Hispanics, not the last group to swim across the Rio Grande River.

They may be poor now and they may be a burden on social services now (though I suspect they're heavy users of California's "safety net" simply because the net is there, and wouldn't be there otherwise), but immigrants by and large tend to be a very upwardly mobile demographic group. Members of my own family have married Spanish-speaking spouses from immigrant families, and the second generation in those families tends to be far more conservative than their white, native-born American counterparts.

for the umpteenth time, there are no such thing as “Hispanics” or “Latino”. I write as someone who speaks fluent Spanish and has constant contact with people from all over Latin America.
I am surprised that MacDonald is so ignorant. In California, the majority of immigrants from Latin America are Mexican. They are the absolute lowest rung of that society. Their major interest is in arning money and sending it to their family of 42 people in Mexcio. The person on the thread who commented that they can’t think is completely right. They are guided by voices - on Spanish-language tv and radio - that tells them what to do. They have no loyalty to or interest in this country, just what they can get. They will never vote Republican, because they have no concept of the individual - they come from a country of no real laws, where you survive by being part ofa clan. We should get rid of them, except the ones who have made a contribution by having a restaurant. I curse the “businessmen” who brought them here - or allowed them to flood in unchecked - in order to suppress American wages. I curse them.

The GOP has about as much of a chance of courting Hispanic votes as they do Black votes ...

That's really not true at all. Just look at how wildly the Hispanic voting patterns have changed even in the last four presidential elections.

This is going to sound ridiculous, but I wonder if Romney would have done himself a huge favor in this election if he and Ryan had just gone out and spent several weeks learning to speak a little Spanish.

With conservatives flooding into TX at a rate equal or greater than the rate of Hispanics, there is no chance TX is in play anytime soon. A old, white, Mormon just beat the hero of Hispanics by 16 points. This is greater than McCains margin in 2008 and not too far from Bush’s victory in 2004.

44
posted on 11/07/2012 5:01:32 PM PST
by tatown
(Obama was right, it was a 'one term proposition')

We should learn from Canada. Conservatives were able to get Sikhs, Chinese and even African immigrants to vote for them because they reached out to immigrant populations.

I know this first-hand. These immigrant groups have been a key to Conservative Party dominance in western Canada for years. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that one way conservatives appeal to them is by demonstrating how idiotic it is for Canada to be filled with so many slackers, Indians on welfare, etc. These immigrant groups have no patience for that kind of sh!t. In other words, these immigrants would absolutely love to get behind a Romney campaign if Romney had been vocal and proud of his "47%" comments.

With all due respect, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you” strikes me as an even more ribald joke in most, if not in fact all, of American Hispanics’ ancestral countries than it is here. So my answer to Mr. Echeveste when he says American Hispanics understand that government has a role in helping people would be, “Dude. Seriously?”

Disclaimer:
Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual
posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its
management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the
exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.